No casualties were reported but officials said several hundred people were arrested.

A day later, protests spread to a Taiwan-owned steel mill in central Vietnam. At least two people died and almost 150 others were injured as protesters attacked the plant.

Following the protests, China called on Vietnamese authorities to protect its citizens, but some Chinese nationals left the country to escape the violence. This picture shows Chinese nationals at Tan Son Nhat airport waiting to depart Ho Chi Minh City in May.

Despite the protests, China said it would continue its drilling work and could not "afford to lose an inch" of territory in the South China Sea.

But in mid-July, however, China said that its rig had finished drilling work and would be removed. Vietnamese officials then confirmed the rig was moving out of the area towards China's Hainan island.